To be honest, John did understand some of it, but there was also a part that was quite muddled and not fully comprehended. In fact, he wasn't a fool; otherwise, he couldn't have possibly rallied the resistance camp and engaged in numerous grueling bouts with the empire's army... Even without seeing any hope or future, these battlefield-hardened veterans still chose not to give up. Everyone knew persistence held the promise of hope, and to do nothing would be to truly become dead fish.

However, try as John might, he could only grasp a vague understanding, especially when it came to that question from Feng Yi, which only he seemed to comprehend. What exactly was this so-called question?

Humans are strange creatures in that when something is incomprehensible, it's as irritating as scratching at one's heart, causing a person to feel uncomfortable all over. There's a compulsion to make sense of it, but who will explain it to you if you don't ask? Especially with someone like Feng Yi, who was tight-lipped—the very person who posed the question to John was even less likely to reveal it, unless you asked. Asking made all the difference. Though one must be cautious with one's words, as misfortune often comes from the mouth, there's no shame in asking questions. It is said that in the state of Wei, there was a doctor full of wisdom and eagerness to learn, humble and reasoned, whom the ruler honored with a title to promote his spirit of learning. Even Confucius praised this man. In the Three Kingdoms period, Lu Su of Wu also became the Grand Commander of Eastern Wu through diligence and education. Although the Grand Commanders of Eastern Wu were short-lived, with both Zhou Yu and Lu Su dying within two years of taking the post—as if under a curse—the curse doesn't matter; what's important is knowledge. It was with knowledge that Lu Su became the Grand Commander, much like a path that emerges when many people walk a way that wasn't originally a path.

Adhering to the principle of asking when in doubt, it wasn't long before John circled back to the original question, "Commander, you once said that only I knew the answer to the riddle, and no one else did. How should this riddle be interpreted then?"

Instead of answering John directly, Feng Yi asked him, "Do you still remember the Sadra organization?"

"Of course, especially that so-and-so Apostle, who was personally released by you, Commander."

"You're right, but the issue lies with that so-and-so Apostle. I've talked to you about how to make her, this so-and-so Apostle, defect from Sadra and disclose false information to the mastermind behind the scenes, falsely claiming I was jittery and on high alert after being "stabbed," so the enemy wouldn't dare attack me—John, can you now see my intention?"

John nodded at this, then shook his head, "It's still a little confusing. Are you trying to make the Apostle tell Kexiao not to attack us lightly, that we have a tight defense?" No, that can't be right either. John soon discarded this idea. That would be blatantly telling the enemy that their defenses were tight. But then, how would the opponents know if the Commander was merely bluffing?

When John brought forth this question, Feng Yi finally laughed heartily, "That you cannot see it is precisely what proves the success of the tactic." As to why, the explanation wasn't all that hard. Feng Yi explained that just because John couldn't see it, didn't mean their opponent Kexiao couldn't see it either. Quite the contrary, Kexiao, knowing what kind of person Feng Yi was, could very well understand his intention.

In truth, Feng Yi didn't know Kexiao, nor did he understand him; it was merely his guess. But as a master of psychology, this 'old brother' was well aware that a commander at his position had to be proficient in military knowledge and adept at guessing the enemy's mind. Since Vivian claimed that Kexiao was not simple, Feng Yi believed that Kexiao could certainly deduce that the intelligence was false and even instantly guess a deeper issue—the possibility of the Sadra Apostle's defection.

Kexiao was not only aware of the false information disclosed by the Apostle, but also pretended to have fallen for it, taking it at face value. Moreover, through the Apostle's mouth, he responded that since the Blazing Legion had a tight defense, he would have to abandon the idea of continuing the assault, making Feng Yi lower his guard. For Kexiao, this presented a rare opportunity—a battlefield commander never passes up a chance, so how could he miss such an opportunity?

This was a cunning application of deception within deception.

But that was only one part; there was also the news that Athena would soon arrive at Mardis. Upon hearing the message from Athena, the Blazing Legion would inevitably prepare ahead of time, and the news of Kexiao giving up the attack would make Feng Yi lower his caution. With Athena's impending visit, the Blazing Legion would definitely make thorough preparations. So, there was a high chance that Kexiao might choose to launch a surprise attack at Feng Yi's most relaxed moment.

And when would he be most relaxed? Of course, it would be in the time before Athena's arrival, namely, tomorrow as per the false intelligence. Because if they were to actually wait for Athena's arrival, the Blazing Legion would certainly tighten its defenses. This was akin to the calm before the storm, the quiet before a tempest. Thus, Feng Yi surmised that Kexiao might very well choose tonight to launch his surprise attack.

Of course, releasing the advance news was also to avoid any changes that might occur as a result of delay—the night is long and full of dreams, after all, and his opponent was Kexiao, a thorny existence even for Vivian. An exceptional opponent required exceptional tactics.

But Feng Yi could only postpone Athena's arrival to seven days later. He had already told John that he wished Athena could come sooner, the sooner, the better. If possible, he would have loved to release news of her arrival in three days. But Athena was in the Capital, which was an indisputable fact, and even traveling by the fastest shuttle from Capital Planet to Mardis took seven days, and that was with a slingshot from the Dragon Gate space station. Otherwise, it would take even longer.

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